Department for Transport

Taxis: Wheelchairs

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to ensure that taxis are wheelchair accessible; and whether they plan to set a target for all taxi firms and hire car operators to have a minimum number of wheelchair accessible vehicles in their fleets by 2020.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs) play an important role in enabling disabled people to complete door-to-door journeys independently, and it is essential that they are accessible to those needing to use them. Local licensing authorities already have powers to determine the categories of vehicle included in their fleets, and we encourage them to ensure a range of passengers are catered for. Whilst wheelchair accessible vehicles are vital for some passengers, for some ambulant disabled people they can be difficult to access. As such we encourage authorities to consider the needs of all potential passengers when determining the make-up of their taxi and PHV fleets. We currently have no plans to set minimum quotas for wheelchair accessible vehicles.

East Coast Railway Line

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 17 June (HL515), what progress has been made in assessing the detailed implications for the timetable and train performance on the East Coast Main Line of the decision to run 7.5 long distance trains per hour from 2021.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Network Rail and the relevant train operators will continue to develop the detail and performance implications of the 2021 timetable in line with the industry’s normal timetable development process, under the oversight of the Office of Rail and Road.With regard to the operation of the Thameslink central core, this is a matter for Network Rail and the relevant train operators, under the oversight of the Office of Rail and Road. The industry is continuing to develop plans for integrating the 24 trains per hour proposed to run on the Thameslink route at peak times from December 2018 with other services on the East Coast Main Line, including the implications for punctuality and reliability.After consulting with Network Rail we have established that there were five ‘unplanned closures’, on various sections of the line, on five separate days in August, two of which were infrastructure related and three as a result of passenger action.Network Rail have defined days with ‘unplanned closures’ of the East Coast Main Line as days where there are more than five cancellation events. A cancellation event covers any service suffering one or more of the below events:Full CancellationPart CancellationDiversionFail to stopChange of Origin

East Coast Railway Line

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 17 June (HL516), what assessment they have made of the levels of punctuality and reliability of trains on the East Coast Main Line required to facilitate a proposal to integrate 24 trains per hour through the central core of Thameslink via Blackfriars.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Network Rail and the relevant train operators will continue to develop the detail and performance implications of the 2021 timetable in line with the industry’s normal timetable development process, under the oversight of the Office of Rail and Road.With regard to the operation of the Thameslink central core, this is a matter for Network Rail and the relevant train operators, under the oversight of the Office of Rail and Road. The industry is continuing to develop plans for integrating the 24 trains per hour proposed to run on the Thameslink route at peak times from December 2018 with other services on the East Coast Main Line, including the implications for punctuality and reliability.After consulting with Network Rail we have established that there were five ‘unplanned closures’, on various sections of the line, on five separate days in August, two of which were infrastructure related and three as a result of passenger action.Network Rail have defined days with ‘unplanned closures’ of the East Coast Main Line as days where there are more than five cancellation events. A cancellation event covers any service suffering one or more of the below events:Full CancellationPart CancellationDiversionFail to stopChange of Origin

East Coast Railway Line

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 17 June (HL518), how many unplanned closures of the East Coast Main Line there were in August.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Network Rail and the relevant train operators will continue to develop the detail and performance implications of the 2021 timetable in line with the industry’s normal timetable development process, under the oversight of the Office of Rail and Road.With regard to the operation of the Thameslink central core, this is a matter for Network Rail and the relevant train operators, under the oversight of the Office of Rail and Road. The industry is continuing to develop plans for integrating the 24 trains per hour proposed to run on the Thameslink route at peak times from December 2018 with other services on the East Coast Main Line, including the implications for punctuality and reliability.After consulting with Network Rail we have established that there were five ‘unplanned closures’, on various sections of the line, on five separate days in August, two of which were infrastructure related and three as a result of passenger action.Network Rail have defined days with ‘unplanned closures’ of the East Coast Main Line as days where there are more than five cancellation events. A cancellation event covers any service suffering one or more of the below events:Full CancellationPart CancellationDiversionFail to stopChange of Origin

East Coast Railway Line

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 17 June (HL402), when they expect to complete their estimate of the financial impact that the decision by the Office of Road and Rail to allow competition on the East Coast Main Line will have on the existing Virgin Trains East Coast franchise.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Government has estimated the financial impact of the Office of Rail and Roads decision on the franchise. However, in light of the potential impact on the franchisee, this information is considered to be commercially sensitive.

Road Traffic Offences

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to ensure that EU law relating to traffic will continue to be enforced when the UK leaves the EU.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Government is considering the impacts of the decision to leave the EU, including future arrangements for existing legislation. Until we leave the EU, EU law continues to apply, so we continue to comply with the requirements relating to traffic.

Roads: Gloucestershire

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with Gloucestershire County Council regarding the budget required to repair local roads in the county.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Whilst no specific discussions have been held with Gloucestershire County Council in respect to local highways maintenance budgets, the Department for Transport officials meet with officers from all local highway authorities in respect to a wide range of local transport issues on a regular basis. The Government has committed record levels of investment, over £6 billion, to highways maintenance up to 2020/21, including a Pothole Action Fund totalling £250 million in this Parliament. From this funding we are allocating over £95 million to the council to help improve the condition of the local roads for which Gloucestershire County Council are responsible.

Railways: Graffiti

Lord Mawson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to remove graffiti from the rail network.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Graffiti removal on the rail network is an operational matter for Network Rail, but the company has advised me that it currently spends around £3.5 million a year for this purpose.

Railways: Industrial Health and Safety

Lord Mawson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the health and safety implications of discarded pieces of rail and equipment alongside tracks across the rail network.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The independent regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), is responsible for monitoring and enforcing health and safety matters in respect of Britain’s railway. It has confirmed that Network Rail has standards in place regarding the removal of material and equipment following the completion of works and that Network Rail provides adequate guidance to its staff on this issue in order to minimise health and safety risks. However, the ORR has noted some inconsistent application of these standards; its inspectors are therefore actively engaging with Network Rail to address this issue.

Leader of the House of Lords

House of Lords: Recess

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask the Leader of the House why there are half-term recesses for the House of Lords.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: The business of the House is scheduled in a way which allows for periodic adjournments, including at half-term. This is the case because many of its members have family or other outside commitments away from the House, in many cases away from London. The House of Commons has a similar pattern of adjournments.

Department for International Development

Syria: Humanitarian Aid

Baroness Helic: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much of the $6 billion of humanitarian aid pledged at the Supporting Syria and the Region conference in February has been disbursed.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The Syria Conference raised a record amount of more than $12 billion - the largest amount raised in one day for a humanitarian crisis. $6billion was pledged for 2016 and a further $6.1billion for 2017-20 to enable partners to plan ahead. According to the UN, as of 26 August, $4.8 billion has been committed by donors to implementing partners for humanitarian assistance in 2016. The UK continues to urge donors to deliver on the commitments made in London including at the forthcoming UN General Assembly in New York, where the Secretary of State for International Development will co-host a Conference follow-up event. The Department for International Development has set up a tracking mechanism that will report on the delivery of all the financial commitments made at the conference, including humanitarian and development funding and loans. The first report from the tracking mechanism will be published in September.

Syria: Foreign Loans

Baroness Helic: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made since the Supporting Syria and the Region conference in February in implementing loans by multilateral development banks and bilateral donors to help vulnerable Syrians and host communities in the Middle East.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The Syria Conference raised a record amount of more than $12 billion - the largest amount raised in one day for a humanitarian crisis. This was supported by Multilateral Development Banks and donors’ pledges of around $41 billion loans, including $1.7 billion on highly concessional terms. The World Bank launched the MENA Finance Initiative to support Syrian refugees and host communities in Jordan and Lebanon at the Spring Meetings in April. Donors pledged $140 million in grants and over $1 billion in concessional loans. Grant pledges have since increased to $225 million. As part of this initiative, the UK is providing an £80 million concessional loan to the World Bank MENA Finance Facility to support employment opportunities for Syrian refugees in Jordan. In July, a successful first meeting of the Steering Committee saw two Jordan projects approved. The UK continues to urge donors to deliver on the commitments made at the London Conference in London. The Department for International Development has set up a tracking mechanism that will report on the delivery of the financial commitments made at the London Conference, including humanitarian and development funding and loans. The first report from the tracking mechanism will be published in September.

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they intend to take in the light of the call by the UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Aid and Development Activities for international support to improve the living conditions of those living in Gaza and to lift the blockade.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The UK remains deeply concerned by the situation in Gaza. As my hon friend the Minister of State Rory Stewart is new to his role, he is conducting a full examination of our work in the OPTs, including our support to Gaza. UK aid helps to provide basic services and support economic development in Gaza. The UK government continues to press for a sustainable political solution which will address Israel’s legitimate security concerns whilst opening up movement and access.

St Helena: Airports

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made on tackling the wind shear issue that is preventing the opening of St Helena’s airport to regular passenger flights; and when they anticipate that regular passenger flights will begin at that airport.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Work is ongoing to establish the impact of the wind conditions at St Helena Airport, with a view to identifying the means to mitigate the impact of the wind shear on flight operations. At the same time work continues to identify options for commencing commercial air services, the timing of which depends on securing the right aircraft and regulatory approvals. We are aiming for these services to start as soon as possible.

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

Lord Polak: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will provide the names of the receiver organisations currently reported as "Supplier Name Withheld" for the £5.49 million in disbursements given to the Norwegian Refugee Council for legal assistance in the West Bank and Gaza from September 2013 to May 2016.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: All disbursements listed on the Development Tracker for the programme entitled ‘Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC): Legal Assistance to prevent demolitions and displacement in the OPTs’ have been made directly to the NRC, which is the supplier for this programme. Due to a technical issue inherent in the Development Tracker management information system, some supplier names appear as withheld when in fact they should be published. Our central management information team is working on a solution to this problem.

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

Lord Polak: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what were the total values of UK aid disbursements in the Palestinian territories given for the purpose of (1) legal assistance, and (2) promoting peaceful co-existence, in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: In each of the last five years the UK has provided the following support for legal assistance in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs): YearDisbursement2012/2013£340,0002013/2014£2,011,0002014/2015£2,550,0002015/2016£2,655,0002016/2017£1,000,000*Total£8,556,000*as this is the current financial year, this figure is subject to change. The DFID Secretary of State is currently considering options for co-existence programmes as part of a wider examination of DFID’s programme in the OPTs. The FCO has supported several co-existence projects in Israel.

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

Lord Polak: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the reports of a senior World Vision official in Gaza diverting funds to Hamas, what steps they are taking to ensure that UK aid given to projects in Gaza and the West Bank is not misappropriated.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The recent allegations against the senior World Vision official in Gaza are deeply concerning. DFID does not fund World Vision operations in Gaza or the Occupied Palestinian Territories more widely. DFID’s programmes are subject to stringent safeguards.

UNRWA: Finance

Lord Judd: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what response they are making, both bilaterally and multilaterally, to the statement on 8 September of the Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine at the extraordinary general meeting called to discuss the acute financial challenges currently faced by the organisation.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The UK is a long-term supporter of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and we regularly discuss with UNRWA how it can resolve its financial situation. The UK remains committed to supporting the Agency and Palestinian refugees at this difficult time in the region. My officials are in close contact with UNRWA’s senior management about the current funding position.

Burma: Humanitarian Aid

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the humanitarian situation in Rakhine State in Burma.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: According to UN OCHA Rakhine is one of the least developed areas in Burma and has the highest poverty rate in the country. Inter-communal violence in 2012 led to the displacement of approximately 145,000 people and as of June 2016 some 120,000 internally displaced people remain in 39 camps or camp-like settings across Rakhine State. Prolonged displacement and ongoing movement restrictions constrain access to essential services like formal education, healthcare and livelihoods, and continue to cause increased vulnerability and a high level of dependency on humanitarian aid. Despite positive progress on establishing the Kofi Annan-led Rakhine Commission, there has not yet been an improvement in the humanitarian situation in Rakhine. DFID and UK Government officials continue to keep close track of the humanitarian situation in Rakhine and visit the region frequently. DFID Ministers raised the plight of the Rakhine and the rights of the Muslim community in meeting with the Burmese government on the most recent visit.

Department for Education

Degrees

Baroness Wolf of Dulwich: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Earl of Courtown on 3 August (HL1378), how many institutions applied to the Quality Assurance Agency’s Advisory Committee on Degree Awarding Powers for degree-awarding powers between 2013 and 2016 inclusive; and what is the current status of each application.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: During this period, 24 institutions have applied for degree-awarding powers. Of those applications, 9 awards have been made and 13 applications are either currently undergoing scrutiny or awaiting final decision from the Privy Council following advice from the Quality Assurance Agency. There were also 2 applications that did not proceed to full scrutiny, as referred to in the earlier answer, HL 1378.

Equal Pay

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies that has identified an 18 per cent gap between men's and women's earnings.

Lord Nash: The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) research notes that the differential in average earnings between women and men remains substantial. The Office for National Statistics figures show that the gender pay gap has been virtually eliminated for women under 40 years of age working full-time, and has decreased for all women over 40 years of age working full-time, but we know that there is more to do. New regulations requiring large employers to be more transparent will take us one step closer to eliminating the gender pay gap within a generation. The IFS research also highlighted that the gender pay gap widens once women start a family. We have extended the right to request flexible working to all employees; introduced a new system of shared parental leave; and committed to providing 30 hours of free childcare a week for working families.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Housing: Rodents

Lord Selsdon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether, and to what extent, subterranean development is increasing incidents across England of mice and other rodents migrating to adjacent properties; and what steps they are taking to address any such increase.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: My Department has not carried out such an assessment.

Department for International Trade

Overseas Trade: Republic of Ireland

Lord Kilclooney: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total value of (1) imports, and (2) exports, between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in the last year for which figures are available.

Lord Price: The value of goods exported from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland was £2.1 billion in 2015.The value of goods imported into Northern Ireland from the Republic of Ireland was £1.6 billion in 2015.Data on the value of trade in services between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is not available.